OpenDocument is usable by many application, including MS Office. It is *possible* to use it with *any* application. So, best bet is to stick with OpenDocument, it's what is established in industry, and ignore docx.
There are OpenDocument plugins for MS Office: http://www.sun.com/software/star/odf_plugin/ and a viewer for Firefox https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1888 and a double-handful of double-handfuls of applications which support it: http://www.opendocumentfellowship.org/applications Look at how business improved with the advent of the WWW, which was based on a simple, but universal file format, and an open transfer protocol. Isn't it likely that a universal office format will also produce some benefit? Malte Timmermann wrote: > Well, I also wonder what this 6000+ pages fat OOXML spec is good for ;) Not much. Despite its bulk it does not contain more than a fraction of the information needed for a third party implementation of the specification. Primarily it seems that the bulk, combined with the exceedingly short examination time the ISO committee has for evaluation, was intended to ensure that any YES or ABSTAIN votes would be based purely on political motives. On the technical side, there are serious discrepancies between DIS 29500 (the part that *has* been published) and .docx (what's actually used) Trying to implement .docx will be impossible, not just because of the size and incompleteness, but also from the fact that it's a moving target. See also: http://holloway.co.nz/can-other-vendors-implement-ooxml.html There are also a lot of licensing problems that cannot be overcome in many trade zones such as North, Central and South America, Australia, and New Zealand. Thus, even if the specification were technically complete, it would not be likely for third parties in those trade zones to overcome the licensing problems. Lastly, the parts that are published are really poorly put together. IMHO it looks like OOXML was slapped together in the 11th hour to try to compete with OpenDocument when it became evident that ODF would get full industry backing. Here are the initial complaints against the public parts of .docx: http://www.incits.org/DIS29500/DIS29500.htm Then the second round complaints against the public parts of .docx: http://www.jtc1sc34.org/repository/0904.zip Also, note that 1) there were *no* negative comments on OpenDocument during the corresponding ISO work several years ago, 2) there seem to have been "irregularities" in each of the ISO countries indicating that not only would OOXML go against ISO charter, it is not of standards quality and needs means outside the law to progress. The whole purpose of docx / DIS29500 appears, from its effects, to be to slow the uptake of a universal office format and to confuse the market. Regards, -Lars --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
